Index:
- Introduction
- Elite status (Tiers, ease of earning, lifetime)
- Room upgrades (suites!)
- Breakfast and lounge access
- Late checkout
- Miscellaneous (Customer service, Tech/IT, BRG, promos, partnerships)
- Points earning rates and redemption values
- Global footprint analysis
- Conclusions
Starwood
SPG offers confirmed 4 pm late checkout to Golds *and* Platinums except at resorts and convention center hotels where it is subject to availability. Late check out requests beyond 4 pm are entertained based on availability and hotel discretion.
SPG also has a Your24 benefit for Platinum 75s which allows you to check in at a given time of your choice (eg: 3 am on Monday) and check out 24 hours later (3 am on Tuesday) which works great for stays that start in the middle of the night (so you don’t have to check out the moment you wake up on Monday). Also it can be combined with the 4 pm confirmed check out time for a further extension if you are checking in after 9 am (so if you check in at 9 am, you don’t have to checkout 9 am the next day, instead you can have a confirmed checkout 4 pm next day, well over 24 hours).
However, Your24 benefit is subject to availability and the hotel must be notified 2 days in advance.
Hyatt
Hyatt offers confirmed 4 pm check out only to Diamond members except at resorts and casino hotels.
In the blogosphere, there is the general impression that SPG and Hyatt both offer similar late check out benefits. However, this is not the case, there are 3 key differences:
1. SPG also offers it to a mid-tier level which is very easy to attain (10 stay/25 nights with multiple rooms counted per night)
2. Hyatt offers it at convention centre hotels whereas SPG does not
3. SPG offers a Your24 24 hour check-in/out benefit
Marriott
Marriott recently announced a ‘confirmed’ 4 pm late check out except at resorts and convention center hotels however the language says guaranteed “up to” 4 pm which leaves a lot of wiggle room for properties. It is not clear why it was necessary for it to say “upto”, so until that is clarified and re-written in the T&C, it will be considered not much of a change from before. The current benefit means a guest could request 4 pm, the hotel will grant 2 pm and be within the program rules since it honoured “guaranteed late check out” (Which in this case wasn’t up to 4 pm, as the language allows)
Hilton
Hilton offers no confirmed late checkout benefit. You still get priority late check out upon request, availability and hotel discretion but there are no guarantees and you might be evicted earlier. Check outs past 4 pm are not as easy to get as with the chains which offer 4 pm guaranteed.
Accor Le Club
Exactly the same as Hilton above in terms of policy but frequently less generous in implementation.
GHA Discovery
Offers 3 pm late checkout to Platinum members subject to availability.
Offers 9 am early check in and 6 pm (!) late checkout to Black members subject to availability.
While it is subject to availability, it frequently is available (And if not till 6, till 4) but when you do get 6 pm checkouts, it’s practically a 2 day stay if you’ve also checked in early at 9 am the previous day.
Conclusion
SPG has the strongest benefit since it is being granted to mid tiers and also has a unique Your24 benefit for ultra top tiers. 4 pm is confirmed and further requests can be made subject to hotel discretion.
Hyatt is the only one that grants confirmed 4 pm at convention/conference hotels.
Marriott’s policy is still unclear.
All chains should offer early check ins subject to availability with no time restrictions if informed in advance since inventory management is infinitely easier for early check ins than it is for late check outs. Only SPG allows confirmable-in-advance early check in however (and only for heavy Platinum75s) while GHA allows it subject only to availability (and not discretion of hotel).
